Avery Bradley; how good can this guy be?

[gar]

Sorry; but this guy has got me hyped a bit. Nothing against Nate, but would love to see Avery replace him in the rotation, so we can trade Nate and Wafer for a Wing. If Delonte nad Avery are good to go, it just opens up alot of nice possibilities. especially with other players like Marquis that can play more than one position.

[FatjohnReturns]

I hate to be a downer but with Rondo,Nate,Ray, and Delonte he wont get any playing time this year or next.



        

[Jevi]

Be hyped up, til we actually see him play. I'm tired of hearing his name in trade talks when we haven't even seen him in green yet. I've seen highlights that to me are nasty, with a vote of confidence by Doc himself that he'll likely play. He's a rookie who can hypothetically(guarding rookies is one thing) play defense. Besides, Gabe Pruitt was on this team two years too long, so Avery should at least get some run. 

[Jon]

Two thoughts:

1) I totally agree with those who said we likely won't find out how good he is this year.  Unless we're killed with injuries, he's going to have trouble even getting on the active roster let alone into a game. 

2) Potential be [dang]ed.  While I'd like to see him stick around, if the C's need to move him to upgrade this roster and bring home #18, so be it.  I don't think they should treat him as throw-in on a minor deal.  But if adding him to a deal nets us a legit 3, then so be it. 

[guava_wrench]

The reason we won't find out this year is more due to his youth than to a minutes problem. He has a lot of developing to do.

Still, if his defense is good enough and his basketball IQ high enough, he could possibly contribute. I just doubt he has a basketball IQ good enough to fit is as well as the veterans on the bench due their their large basketball experience cache.

[guava_wrench]

Think that with Delonte Sitting the first part of the season and him missing summer league, he will likely get some run during preseason and maybe even during the beginning of the regular season. But, look for him to head for D league once Delonte can play. Let's hope he blows the doors off during that period nad he plays alongsicde Delonte. Would love to see Avery and Delonte spelling Rondo and RA.

Delonte is hurt?

[gar]

John Wall is one of the biggest talents to come into this league in the last few years. That Bradley was even compared to him should tell you something. To compare him to Gabe Pruitt (taken at 32nd) is unfair. He may not be another Rondo; but he certainly has the same raw potential. He is already a more well rounded player than Rondo was or may ever be.

[JBcat]

Think that with Delonte Sitting the first part of the season and him missing summer league, he will likely get some run during preseason and maybe even during the beginning of the regular season. But, look for him to head for D league once Delonte can play. Let's hope he blows the doors off during that period nad he plays alongsicde Delonte. Would love to see Avery and Delonte spelling Rondo and RA.

Delonte is hurt?

10 game suspension to start the season.

[xmuscularghandix]

I don’t this we’re gonna see him running the point much at all... So i think he’s looking at backup off-guard minutes.

[guava_wrench]

Think that with Delonte Sitting the first part of the season and him missing summer league, he will likely get some run during preseason and maybe even during the beginning of the regular season. But, look for him to head for D league once Delonte can play. Let's hope he blows the doors off during that period nad he plays alongsicde Delonte. Would love to see Avery and Delonte spelling Rondo and RA.

Delonte is hurt?

10 game suspension to start the season.

Would have been better off driving drunk.

[nickagneta]

Unlike a lot of the people who have opinions on Avery Bradley on here, I actually watched him play a lot last year. To be honest it was kind of by accident because I was high on Damion James and thought him a perfect Celtics pick and wanted to watch him but did see Bradley play.

Long term, he's a point guard. But much like George Hill in San Antonio he has the size, length, exceptional defensive ability and shooting to play either position. He eventually is a PG.
 
But he can definitely play extremely high level one on one deny and man defense and teamed with Rondo, the two of them could put on a two man full court pressure on teams that hasn't been seen in this league in a long, long time. And that's right now.

But he also needs to develop his passing and floor general type skills and extend his range out to three point range. he's only 19 but he has Russell Westbrook/Rajon Rondo upside as a PG. He is that good.

The ONLY reason he even played SG at Texas is because Rick Barnes is an idiot. Barnes had two smallish veteran PGs on his roster and then went out and recruited two decent sized 6'3" PGs. Bradley being one of them, and the one with the best shot and scoring ability, he switched him to the SG spot.

He right now is third on the depth chart at PG and fifth on the depth chart as a SG for the C's. Eventually, long term, he is Rondo's backup and/or replacement and/or is Steve-Nash-while-in-Dallas-with-Jason-Kidd type trade bait.

[LooseCannon]

Long term, he's a point guard. But much like George Hill in San Antonio he has the size, length, exceptional defensive ability and shooting to play either position. He eventually is a PG.

.....

But he also needs to develop his passing and floor general type skills and extend his range out to three point range. he's only 19 but he has Russell Westbrook/Rajon Rondo upside as a PG. He is that good.

If he were two inches taller but otherwise exactly the same skills and flaws, would you still consider him a PG?  Is it only height that makes you consider him a point guard? Bradley didn't play PG in high school (although he did play next to a couple of top "pure" point guard prospects in Abdul Gaddy and Cory Joseph, according to what I have read online).

I think there is a decent chance that Bradley ends up as a top defender who develops a three-point shot, but not "floor general type skills" to the extent that another team would want him to be their starting point guard.

[Atzar]

Nick - how good could he be if he was asked to be a full-time SG?  Do you think he can defend NBA shooting guards even at a size disadvantage?  Is he a good enough shooter/scorer to stick there alongside Rondo, in the event that neither of them is traded?  Or would it just be a waste of his talents/too much for him?

[nickagneta]

Long term, he's a point guard. But much like George Hill in San Antonio he has the size, length, exceptional defensive ability and shooting to play either position. He eventually is a PG.

.....

But he also needs to develop his passing and floor general type skills and extend his range out to three point range. he's only 19 but he has Russell Westbrook/Rajon Rondo upside as a PG. He is that good.

If he were two inches taller but otherwise exactly the same skills and flaws, would you still consider him a PG?  Is it only height that makes you consider him a point guard? Bradley didn't play PG in high school (although he did play next to a couple of top "pure" point guard prospects in Abdul Gaddy and Cory Joseph, according to what I have read online).

I think there is a decent chance that Bradley ends up as a top defender who develops a three-point shot, but not "floor general type skills" to the extent that another team would want him to be their starting point guard.

Actually Bradley played three years of PG at Bellarmine Prep so I don't know where you are getting that he isn't a PG and didn't play one in high school.

And if he was two inches taller I am not sure he would still be considered a SG. He has excellent ball handling skills and has all the talent and traits of a PG, just not a pass first and foremost PG ala Rondo or Deron Williams or John Stockton. He's more of a scoring PG that has the vision and passing ability to be a really good passer as well ala Chauncey Billups. Being just 19 I would call his skills to be a PG needing refinement, but they a PG skills none the less.

Remember, Russell Westbrook was in the same boat coming out college having played SG in college but drafted as a PG because of his skills and his play at the PG position in high school. OKC let him develop his skills and now he is unquestionably a PG, just not one with the floor general capabilities that come so natural to Nash, Kidd, Rondo, Paul, Williams and others straight out of college.

[nickagneta]

Nick - how good could he be if he was asked to be a full-time SG?  Do you think he can defend NBA shooting guards even at a size disadvantage?  Is he a good enough shooter/scorer to stick there alongside Rondo, in the event that neither of them is traded?  Or would it just be a waste of his talents/too much for him?

I think his upside as a PG is too high for him to be used as a SG. Could he do it? Probably but right now his range for consistency outside isn't at the three point line of the NBA. That shot will develop though.

He's long. Like Rondo long in the arms only 3 inches taller so he should be able to defend all but the taller stronger SGs in the NBA right away.

But, again, it's not where he should be. If we had not signed Nate Robinson and Bradley was our backup PG, I am CONVINCED that by the end of the year we would be talking about Bradley like people were talking about Darren Collison this summer.